Friday 30 July 2010

TIME FOR THYME!

It is winter in Adelaide, it is cold and wet and lots of folks have coughs and colds, so it is time for thyme.

Thyme is a great addition to your medicinal herb garden.

Thyme contains thymol which you will find in toothpastes and throat gargles.

Thyme, honey and lemon make a great soothing mix to sip if you have a sore or dry throat.

Infuse some thyme in green tea, add a little honey and you have a great tasting herbal tea.

Thyme has great antiseptic properties as well as aiding digestion and boosting the immune system.

And thyme tastes great!

Combine thyme with other herbs such as sage and rosemary and the uses and health benefits of using these herbs is amazing.

Thyme is used in equal quantities with sumac to make Zatar which is used in Middle eastern cookery.

Thyme is used with cumin in Cajun cookery.

Thyme, parsley, bayleaf is tied in a bundle to make a bouquet garni which is then added to most French stocks and casseroles.

Thyme is a great herb to include in your cooked vegetable dishes, meat and fish casseroles, soups, baked goods, egg and cheese quiches, veggie and tofu burgers, salads and salad dressings.

In fact thyme goes with just about every ingredient I can think of that you have in the kitchen.

The many varieties of thyme enhance you food with different flavours.

We even add thyme, parsley, sage and oregano to our dogs raw food diet.

Herb Garden

Saturday 3 July 2010

HORSERADISH

  Garden & Horseradish-23

Horseradish grows well in our garden, it establishes itself very easily and will propagate like a weed if you leave any bit of root behind. It is best to leave the roots for a couple of years to get a reasonable size (medium carrot size), but if you can’t wait then by all means dig some up when the leave die back.

Processing is best done in a food processer or with a hand grater and is best done outside because of the extreme pungency of horseradish.

Horseradish

I have an old food processer which I use to grind chillies, horseradish, turmeric and any other pungent or stain producing food stuff.

Once grated I add a teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and some apple cider vinegar, just enough to cover and moisten the horseradish. It is good to then spoon the mixture into to small sterilized jars, seal with a lid. Our horseradish lasted for 12 months in the refrigerator, but it started to lose some pungency after six months or so..

The horseradish prepared in this way is great to serve with meat or vegetables. You can add some to whipped cream or herb flavoured ricotta cheese to serve with smoked salmon and melba toast.

Horseradish has amazing health properties and is a great addition to any refrigerator medicine “kit”.